It has been a very positive few years for fantasy fans of all genres. The almost endless supply of Marvel and DC Comics content, albeit with a more family friendly angle, added to the substantial growth of the Star Wars universe has provided people with ample viewing opportunities. Of course, there is a deeper, darker and murkier level to fantasy and following on from the success of the Game of Thrones television adventure, House of Dragon has become a new chapter in that franchise in recent times, and building on the massive success achieved by the Lord of the Rings film series, J.R.R. Tolkien’s inspired creation has now arrived on the small screen.
The Rings of Power follows the well trodden prequel format, and is set thousands of years before loyal fans were first introduced to the build up events in The Hobbit. But in an effort to ingratiate a new generation of fans, as well as seeking to not disappoint long standing lovers of the original book series, whilst all the faces might be new, some well known characters are back such as Gil-galad, Galadriel, Elrond and Gimli and we get the opportunity to delve deeper into their histories, their stories and what ultimately becomes the origins of the relationships and character traits in the future that we are far more familiar with.
The first series has not yet fully aired and an online casino like this one is well placed to spin the roulette wheel on how the show will be eventually greeted when we reach the end of the opening set of episodes, but with it believed that Amazon will make it the most expensive television show in history, with a reported minimum $1 billion investment into its production, scenically it is already hitting the mark for viewers, but it is a slow and more intriguing start as you decipher your way around a world you think you know well, but actually do not.
This is largely to be expected though as we get introduced to a new time, new characters and inevitably see a new and unknown side to those who are more familiar. Although everyone – unless totally new to this universe – knows ultimately where the plot is heading, with so many nods to the future to be made in the writing to tie up the accepted historical cannon, four episodes in, you can already sense the bread crumbs being laid for future events and the seeds of potential alliances being planted, but there will certainly need to be a lot of patience shown as the series arc properly formulates itself.
With it expected that the initial plan is for The Rings Of Power to run for at least five seasons, it is probably fair to assume that those newer to Middle Earth will sense a greater feeling of pay off more quickly that those who have experienced the books, or even just the films. For long term fans and lovers, it is probably not going to feel right until certain life arcs are established, and we better see those characters matching our existing expectations given how important they are to become, whilst the newer characters in the world become who they need to be for this spin off to truly hit the mark.
The plot itself might well be inevitable given we know the future, much like the aforementioned House of Dragons, but from what I have seen so far, the joy is going to be in the journey and the twists and turns traveled to create the world we know lies ahead.